Berserk Vol. 1: The Black Swordsman

Guts is a severely traumatized vagabond that wanders the world, throwing himself into one battle after another in hopes of finding a meaning in the tremendous suffering he's endured. His sword is his only trusted companion and he's consumed by a lust for vengeance. Griffith is a charismatic mercenary with dreams of ending a hundred year war in hopes of attaining his own kingdom. Little do his comrades and enemies know, he's not the flawless hero many believe him to be. When the paths of these two men clash, the entire world drastically evolves around the earth-shattering conflict between their indomitable wills. A grimdark epic with compelling protagonists, stomach-churning horror, heartbreaking drama and a lovecraftian sense of metaphysical worldbuilding that's as fascinating as it is terrifying. Berserk has been my favorite manga, fantasy story and perhaps favorite story ever made for over a decade now and I was really sad to hear that the man behind the masterpiece passed away earlier this year. Berserk is infamous for being the most gratuitously dark, brutal, shocking and depressing fantasy story ever written, but it is also rich with intense human emotion, philosophical depth, perseverance through unimaginable suffering and horrifyingly realistic depictions of psychological trauma. The series tackles the complex nature of morality vs. primal nature, fate and causality vs. free will, resilience against soulcrushing trauma that would cause most people to become broken or twisted. The definitions of good an evil are blurred beyond recognition, the heroes are just as flawed and capable of terrible deeds as the villains. The lead characters Guts and Griffith consistently challenge these themes and definitions through their shocking yet horrifyingly human actions. This manga has inspired many famous works of art that are popular in today’s media such as the Dark Souls franchise, Final Fantasy, Attack on Titan, Evangelion, Castlevania, as well as countless fantasy novels, comics, manga, movies, tv shows, video games, musicians, artists, illustrators and so much more. Miura inspired me as well and I regard him for being the person who taught me just how influential, meaningful and life changing art and literature can be when I first read his series over a decade ago. He changed the way I view entertainment and taught me how to appreciate the deeper meanings in everything I experience. Berserk is to me what Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings is to millions of others. Rest In Peace to a legendary man.

After watching – more times than I should have – ‘97 anime, films, 2016 anime (not recommended), Berserk and the Band of the Hawk video game, and finally, new volume releases since 2013; the berserk hype had finally overcome me – I could no longer sit on the fence with the manga. Being a berserk fan for years, I had peeped over now and then on the manga online, but never fully planned to buy it; especially since I had no job and buying volume after volume would seriously begin stacking the price into triple digits (to which I have done, but with no regrets). Finally landing myself a job, and hearing and seeing on numerous occasions of the manga going out of stock, I finally had to act. Although as of writing this, I currently lack volumes 7, 18, 33 (1-2 month dispatch time), 34, 35, and 36; I have got a majority of the volumes including the latest volume, 38, and patiently await Dark Horse’s print of volume 39, and for Kentarou to hopefully start pulling out of hiatuses and returning to form with regular and consistent releases. [2022 UPDATE: Got all the manga as you could imagine, but as for Kentarou’s progress on the manga, well…. That may be best left for Vol. 41.] Anyways, enough backstory: is this volume good you wonder? Is berserk worth a read? Should I just watch the adaptions instead? Well; yes, yes and… sort of yes. I can’t give an overall manga recommendation as I need volume 7 to progress, however, this volume alone was a good read and I absolutely love berserk. The adaptions from ’97 to ’13 are what I’d recommend, but the original source material will be your ultimate experience. [2022 UPDATE 2: Yes, of course, I’ve hammered the manga too, all the way up to Volume 40, and it was amazing. Only real setbacks are Dark Horses dodgy prints that can come with some volumes.] Volumes 1-3 cover the Black Swordsman arc, the current events of our struggling protagonist/anti-hero in Kentarou’s early stages of story-telling, with the ending of the third volume tossing us back into our main character’s past: Guts. These three volumes are unsurprisingly dark, sprinkled with occasional humour, splattered with blood and guts, and oozes with deep character development and world building. [2022 UPDATE 3: As I’ve returned to polish up this review, I’ve noticed a new and upcoming review doing well for itself. I shall not mention the review specifically, but I will acknowledge it by saying how much I strongly disagree with almost to all of its arguments; lambasting the author as an immature teen and going as far as to label our main man Guts as a ‘Mary Sue’. Of course, each to their own is entitled to their opinion, and I could go full essay on why that individual couldn’t be more wrong; and if they’re reading this by any chance, then I wholeheartedly encourage them to give this manga another go – for berserk evolves in its telling throughout the arcs and the latest arc (Fantasia) is almost a completely different beast from the Black Swordsman. I’m sure Miura would greatly appreciate this!] [Note: the adaptions barely cover this arc, and instead predominantly cover the golden age arc. So there’s plenty of fresh territory to step into here if you’ve already seen the adaptions] The panels are amazingly drawn, the characters are well constructed, balance between action, serenity, and humour (amongst other themes) are well struck to form a solid bedrock; the core of what makes Berserk so interesting and not just some slasher-thriller with more blood than Guts could shake his sword at. I look forward to the day I get my hands on the missing volumes, even more the day that hopefully comes where Berserk is completed, but so far, these first six volumes were great reads with so much going on; with themes of camaraderie, humanity, good and evil, deceptive perceptions, causality, etc. The Mediaeval universe of Berserk does not disappoint, and if you are reading this at the time it’s been posted, and are still undecided, then best act quickly. Dark Horse should reprint more volumes from November to December, to which you’ll want to capitalize on and be quick before they sell out; and remember, Berserk is niche, and as a result, Dark Horse don’t print vast quantities of copies, thus the frequent emptying of stock. [2022 UPDATE 4: Berserk has picked up in popularity in recent years, so the English publish, I believe, has improved their production] Kentarou is amazing, Berserk is a brilliant, Susumu’s music is fantastic, and I greatly look forward to berserk’s volumes that are yet to come, and the note that it will end on! P.S. Berserk is quite violently graphic. It immediately starts with nudity and contains strong language amongst everything else; so it’s not for the young or faint of heart. And finally, Volume 39 [Now on Vol. 40 as of editing this] should be releasing hopefully mid-next year, assuming you get that far. I’d also like to quickly add that Dark Horse isn’t exactly number one when it comes to handling this series. Contrast issues, translation errors, inconsistent releases after Japanese releases, incorrect bios (See volume 38 about this), new different spine prints (only problematic for those whom had volumes for many years), and some text, as well as panels being slightly printed off the page. [NOTE: One volume in particular, had some splodges of ink that seemed to have splashed/dripped over the panels, in which I reordered a new volume to remedy that] Besides this, the volumes arrived in rather very good condition and were enjoyable to read, and you haven’t got to be an anime or manga fan to get into this. Many others such as myself hadn’t read a manga until Berserk, and I don’t plan on reading any others any time soon. Apologies for the essay And don’t forget to listen to Susumu Hirasawa!

10/10

klasik berserk

One of the best Mangas to ever be written, along with some pretty amazing art. Not for the faint of heart though

em perfeito estado, plastificado e chegou antes do prazo! maravilhoso!

Perfeito